feet, that's when he started to slow down to 400, 300 miles per hour, then yanking the chute to slow him down all the way to the ground. but he said, i can't speak from experience, but he said he didn't notice that he was going any faster at any point. he had no idea he was going 800 miles per hour or even close to the speed of sound. >> wow. amazing. chad, thanks very much. amazing. chad, thank you very much. that's it for us. the rematch. president obama and mitt romney hours away from debate number two tonight in new york. >> i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department. 60,000 plus people all over the world. >> secretary of state hillary clinton taking the blame for the death of a u.s. ambassador and they other americans in libya. >> controversial words. dangerous drug or vital

medicine? marijuana could be a step closer to legalization. good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start." nice to have you with us. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. first, president obama and mitt romney ready for round two. in about 16 hours, candidates will take the stage at hofstra university at long island for the second of three presidential debates. this one, a town hall format moderated by candy crowley. >> and there is plenty at stake tonight for both president obama and mitt romney. exactly three weeks to go until election day. the race is this close -- i'm holding up my hands showing not a very big space. romney leads by the slimmest of leads. we're joined by cnn's paul steinhouser. he's going to be in the debate tonight. >> you're right, it is this

close. it is also this close in the battleground states. that's where there is so much at stake in the second debate. >> one thing i know for sure, miss prepared, miss confident, miss got a good presence about him. >> ann romney says her husband is ready for a rematch with president obama. the republican nominee spent the past two days back home in massachusetts behind closed doors preparing for tonight's second presidential debate. president obama's been hunkered down in williamsburg, virginia, not campaigning in the crucial battleground state but instead doing his debate prep home work. a senior adviser says the president knows he needs to step it up after the denver debate two weeks ago. >> walk off that stage and he also knew as he watched the tape of that debate that he got to be more energetic. >> reporter: most americans

think romney got the better of obama at the first face-off. >> my plan is not to put in place any tax cut related to the deficit. so you may keep referring to the $5 trillion tax cut. but that's not my plan. >> i want to provide tax breaks for companies investing in the united states. on energy, governor romney and i agree we to increase energy production. >> reporter: the polls have tightened up. this time around the candidates will field questions directly from undecided voters in a towm. >> around them sort of a semicircle there will be about 80 people chosen from the area all from long island. they're the ones that will ask the questions.

>> reporter: connecting with the audience is crucial. >> the challenge is they have to connect with the people that are looking into the television and watching them, but to people that are on the stage with them. they have to keep those folks in mind. it's a much more intimate and up close adventure with voters. >> reporter: who do americans think is going to win this debate? check this out. okay, here is the second debate on the left. americans are divided over who will do a better job in the debate. it was a very different story before the first debate. we've seen other past presidents have a tough first debate, ronald reagan in '84 and george w. bush back in 2004. they came back with very strong second debates. that's the big question for president obama. >> you have new information. there are a lot of articles written about. this both campaigns are concerned about the moderator. what do you know about that? what is the new information. >> yes, there was criticism saying that she needs to not really go off on a tangent there

on the follow ups. both campaigns are saying, listen, we're going to answer the questions that come our way. the questions come from the undecided voters but she gets to take it and facilitate a discussion. let's get ready for the debate. >> it should be a great discussion and a great moderator. paul, thank you very much. bottom of the hour we'll have more debate preview with ana navarro. >> there are always fireworks when their together. and special coverage of tonight's town hall debate moderated by candy crowley. can we get enough plugs in? >> this is making big news. hillary clinton says don't blame the white house. the deadly september 11 attack on a u.s. consulate in benghazi she says is her responsibility. in an interview, the secretary of state was emphatic.

she is in rncharge of security. no one should be blaming the president for the death of chris stevens and three other americans. >> i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department, 60,000 plus people all over the world, 275 posts. the president and vice president certainly wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions. they were made by security professionals. they're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision. >> now republicans are not buying this. senator john mccain saying if the president what the no aware of this threat in benghazi, then we lost confidence in his national security team. that sult matly the job of the commander in chief. the buck stops there. cnn foreign affairs reporter landed that interview with secretary clinton.

elise will join us next hour live. at least two other drugs may be added to the list of the growing outbreak of meningitis. a pain steroid has been linked to the outbreak. 214 cases of meningitis have been reported in 15 states. 15 people have died. >> vice president joe biden will attend the funeral today for arlen specter, the former long time senator for pennsylvania who died of cancer on sunday. more than 1,000 mourners are expected to turn out for surface in philadelphia. and a stunning turn of events in the monday night football game. after spotting the san diego chargers 24 first half points. denver broncos struck back to win their rival. peyton manning had three touchdown passes and threw for more than 300 yards. 35-24 victory. >> 35 unanswered points.

if you had any questions about whether peyton manning still have it, this answers it. what a comeback. seven minutes after the hour. this is a case that could help put pot back on the path to legalization. coming up, when a court could decide this week about marijuana. two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger.

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editor steph shears. we're happy to see you this morning. i want to show people how the drugs are split up so we have an understanding of how they're classified. schedule one drugs are marijuana, heroin, ecstasy. schedule two are cocaine, pcp, methadone and schedule three is vik owe din, anabolic steroids and tylenol. you want marijuana put in with medical codeine. why do you think you'll have success this time? >> i think since -- the last few years there's been a lot more research happening here in the u.s. we know how doctors and patients are using medical canibus. we think there is a lot more for the courts to look at. and this time we're actually -- this case was brought to the courts by patients being affected by the laws.

>> you tried to have marijuana reclassified twice and failed. last time the dea said to you that the department of health and human services said that their he val wigs and the additional data gathered shows that marijuana has a high potential for abuse. marijuana lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision. that's what they say. they say a high potential for abuse and lacks accepted safety for medical supervision. that seems to say they're not in favorite of this being legalized. >> well, by saying abuse, what they're really -- it's the same thing as saying use. a lot of people in this country use canibus. so that's how they're determining at as high level of abuse. but there are over one million medical canibus patients in this country and they're represented by thousands of doctors who think this is good medicine. as long as the federal government says that there's no medical value, there's a gap

that's now growing between patients and doctors and the federal government. >> so what happens if you win this case? all of a sudden pot just legal? >> no, no the at all. what happens is that we're actually finally on the same page with our federal government that it has medical use. it still is going to have to go through fda testing. there is still going to be decisions about what's going to happen in the states. but today this is going to be the start of a process just to get the federal government on the same page as millions of americans that are using medical canibus. >> what do you think the holdup? there are states that approve it for medical use like california. >> there's a lot of theories of why canibus -- one of the largest reasons is that, you know, the fda and dea are not adapt to dealing with herbal medicines. canibus is one of the drugs being used by doctors and patients. the federal government isn't sure how to treat it.

and we also know that because of the war on drugs, the issue of medical canibus gets pushed to the side and people haven't been looking at the medical attributes. >> we should add you are a medical marijuana patient, correct? >> that's correct. >> it works well for you? >> yes. i actually use it for anti-inflamatory properties. >> all right. >> most americans that are living with pain, they aren't supposed to take high dosage of eye bu pro fen. it is one of the safest anti-inflammatories known to human kind. >> the hearings again today. thanks again. we know this is going to be a big talker today. we want to hear from you. comment on our twitter page. you can find us on facebook or head to our blog, cnn.com/earlystart. >> it is 15 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. here are our top stories. >> we're counting down to

tonight's debate rematch. the town hall format presents a challenge for president obama and mitt romney. they'll be facing questions from undecided voters. the debate is moderated by candy crowley will cover foreign and domestic issues. special coverage moderated by candy begins at 7:00 eastern time right here on cnn. hillary clinton says don't blame the white house because the deadly september 11th attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi is ultimately her responsibility. the secretary of state insisting she's in charge of security at u.s. diplomatic outposts and the white house shouldn't be blamed for the terrorist attack that killed ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. >> investigators are looking into an involving first lady michelle obama's motorcade. mrs. obama was not harmed. two police officers collided into each other and they were hospitalized. it is 16 minutes after the hour. we're getting an early read on

your local news. we're going to start with the arizona republic. this is a strange one. uncovering a pattern of criminal and edge cad misconduct in the arizona nass ational guard. there is sexual abuse, forgery, enlistment violations and firearms violations. now members also allegedly hunted homeless people with paint ball guns. a lot of the wrongdoing is concentrated among recruiters who frequently visit high schools. they blame leadership failures and lack of discipline. >> this from the "san francisco chronicle." a snoutless dog who is a national hero. he is getting reconstructive surgery at the university of california davis. reports say the dog was disfigured after throwing herself into the path of a speeding motorcycle that was about to hit two young girls. can you believe it? the collision cost the dog her snout and upper jaw. there is no plan to fit her with

a prosthetic snout. instead, they're looking to closing the facial wound. >> head to our blog to see all of our top stories. >> coming up, the big time on line retailer that is doing big time hiring for the holidays. that's good news we'll share with you after the break. er, and these come together, one thing you can depend on is that these will come together. delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym.

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welcome back. u.s. stock futures are trading higher and european markets are up as well. >> christine romans is here to tell us why and give us a state of the economy check. >> look, yesterday was a good day for the stock market overall. we had a retail sales number that was vong. it shows people buying cars. it shows people buying electronics. iphone sales are coming up in the economic reports. so interesting. the s&p 500 year to date up 12.77%. even with these headwinds of earnings, we know that company profits are not going to be as great as they were last year. so i'll have a good sense of how these different industries are doing right now overall. so we're going to also see consumer price index and industrial production, a lot of different data. it's interesting a week of a debate. we'll get a really good gut check of how the consumer is feeling, how they're spending,

how companies are doing and are people really better off and are companies better off than they were four years ago? a lot of news. stock futures are up this morning. >> before we went to break earlier, we were teasing everybody with jobs headed our way. it's a significant number. >> you are thinking about the holidays yet? corporate america is, especially if you're i retailer. they have to start hiring up for their peak season. and amazon says that they're hiring 50,000 u.s. season workers for the holidays. this is to work in the fulfillment centers. you see that, these are jobs taking things off of the shelves, restocking, working in fulfillment center for amazon. all the people using the services for holidays. normally there are 20,000 people in these warehouses. >> 50,000 is quite fulfilling. >> these are part time jobs. they're seasonal jobs. in some cases the jobs can translate into full time jobs. we know a lot of other folks are hiring as well. target, 80,000 to 90,000 jobs they're planning to hire.

macy's, 80,000, kohl's, walmart, toys "r" us. we also know it's fewer than half, usually fewer than a third of those jobs translate into full time jobs, permanent, you know, full time jobs for people down the road. certainly if you're looking for a retail job, 30% of target's jobs are last year are retained. 15% of toys "r" us jobs, they retained the people. but, you know, look, a job is a job. and challenger gray and christmas, these are people who chart, you know, job layoff notices and hiring notices. more than 400,000 positions have been, you know, have been advertised over the past few weeks for holiday hiring. >> that's really great. the fact it could potentially turn into a full time job is even better. >> 60% of the jobs we added since the recovery are low wage. so the thing is, is this going to be your destination or is this a stepping stone until you can get to a career that's going to pay more?

full time jobs do have stock grants. so they say they're better than an educational retail job. >> we are getting positive economic news. thank you very much. this could be a break in the case. the case of a canadian teen tormented in will she took her own life. how computer hackers helped expose the alleged bully behind this. we'll have that coming up. if you're leaving your house, you can watch us any time on your mobile phone. i'm so glad you called. thank you.

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obama versus romney, the sequel. a different format for tonight's

debate. number two. >> taking the fall. secretary of state hillary clinton talking to cnn about the attack that killed a u.s. ambassador. >> positive signs. there's reason for home as doctors in britain treat the wounded teenage activist who took on the taliban. nice to share that story with you. welcome back to "early start." we're glad you're with us this morning. >> it's 29 minutes past the hour right now. and we're counting down to round two tonight between mitt romney and president obama. this time in a town hall style debate which we moderate by cnn's own chief political correspondent candy crowley. >> tonight's event holds high expectations for both men just three weeks away from the election on november 6. >> here to discuss that with us is cnn contributor and republican strategist ana navarro.

you do so many things, nick. >> all before 5:30. >> i want to talk about the format. it's a town hall format which historically means a certain amount of peril. let's look at this george h.w. bush against bill clinton and ross perot. there he is looking at his watch. a lot of people thought he looked bored. eight years after that, you had vice president al gore against george w. bush. and a lot of people thought gore got a little aggressive. let's look at that tape. >> what's your philosophy and position on issues, but can you get things done? and i believe i can. >> so that's a moment that a lot of people remember. al gore didn't say anything. he walked up to bush and he bush gave him the head nod.

who does this format favor? >> i think it will be good. i think it can be interesting. i think it can be more fun. i think that barack obama does well when he is talking to real people, people he hasn't met before. people who are voters, regular voters, average voters. so i think that the president will do great. i think it's a challenge. in the past it's been a challenge for governor romney. i think he knows plenty of real people. he probably meets them every day. he probably has some experience at this. but in the past, he's had some tough moments. so i think it favors president obama. but i think you're going to see an energized and, you know, fired up president obama today. >> ana, you've been a sharp critic of mitt romney's human capabilities. what does this pose for him? >> when he's on, he is really on this momentum drive. i've seen that happen since the debate. i saw it happen exactly in florida where he started winning the two debates in florida. he just, you know, he went on a

roll. and i just saw them last month, i think, it was at the un i vision forum in miami. it was sort of a town hall style. there were questions from the audience. and romney was very on. and obama was very off. a lot had to do with the interaction with the audience. i think they should remember the questioner's name. it's very important for them to see and touch and connect with the common people. not just about -- you know, legal ease is spoken and words are spoken within washington. but to be able to connect with them. know the price of milk. know the price of gas. know the common things. >> study up on that stuff. >> right. >> you wanted to talk format. i want to talk women. i want to talk about this latest poll that is out. it shows that the gender gap is closing for romney among women in the swing states. so richard, should this be a concern for the obama campaign? these numbers were swaying in obama's direction. let's look at them now. 49% to 48%. >> it should be a concern if it holds up.

i think that the last debate we see now was, you know, very difficult moment for president obama. i think a lot of people who were supporting him, many of them women, had some second thoughts. so i think now is his opportunity to go in and demonstrate to people why he's doing this, why this is important. what are the contrasting visions? we can't -- we say this ca lot. i think tonight is the most important night of the election for president obama. i think for governor romney, he had such a strong debate performance last time that i think he can probably coast a little bit more. but if obama doesn't show up and demonstrate that he is really in this to win it, you know, it's going to be a big problem. >> are you surprised by those numbers, those women numbers? >> i have to tell you, i am. i saw the headline this morning when i left my hotel room. it was amazing. you know, what's amazing to me is how soft the support for president obama has been.

that he has lost so much support over one bad debate. you're talking very soft support. >> what does that tell you? >> that tells you his base is not as committed as it was four years ago. and i can sense that in the streets of florida. i can see it, you know, i live in a battleground state, remember. i can see it in the signs in the homes. i remember what it was like four years ago. i was the only mccain sign. today, it is full of romney. >> the obama campaign disputes these numbers strongly saying it's a strange likely voter screen among registered voters. we will leave that there. i do want to shift to libya right now. hillary clinton is giving interviews including on cnn and she took a high level of responsibility for what hapned there. >> i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department. 60,000 plus people all over the world, 275 posts.

the president and the vice president certainly wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decision that's are made by security professionals. ther they're the ones that weigh the threats and risks and needs and make a considered decision. >> does this free the president tonight on the questions of ben gaz of benghazi? >> absolutely not. it took them a long time to say terrorist attack, an act of terror. i do agree with secretary clinton and i think it's commendable she is taking responsibility, she should. we're talking about benghazi, libya. we're not talking about the consulate in cancun or paris, france. difference koconsulates of responsibility. certainly the administration should be well aware. >> i think what she said last night reflects her personal

opinion and her personal upset over what happened. i think as secretary of state she does feel responsible. but i think that we can't -- we shouldn't try to parse this stoo too much. if she is responsible, she works for the president and that makes the president responsible, too. i don't think she was trying to shift responsibility away from him so much as to say she takes personal responsibility for the decision that's were made. i think it was a nuance to answer. i think certainly the president is responsible, right? any time an american, it seems to me, is killed in the line of duty in an area like that, it represents an intelligence failure. the administration is willing to say, you know, willing to share with the american people what they know when they knew it. but this effort like we saw yesterday of mayor giuliani with sole dad to cover it up, to say there was a cover-up is ridiculous. >> we're going to ask you to join us again in the 6:00 hour. thank you. at the top of the hour, we'll have more debate preview

with ron brownstein, cnn senior political analyst. and special coverage of tonight's town hall presidential debate moderated by candy crowley begins at 7:00 eastern time right here on cnn. the man who allegedly tormented canadian teen amanda todd before she took her life has reportedly been identified. canadian media reporting that the hacking and activist group posted a vancouver area name and address. todd took her own life after posing this chilling youtube video where she described being sexually exploited by a cyber bully. the second of two female volunteers has washed out maf reen infantry officer training. the marine corps times reports a second lieutenant was dropped from the program for medical reasons. the other female officer dropped out last month after failing to complete an introductory endurance test. they were the first women to try to join the elite combat ranks. >> there will be others.

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welcome back. guarded optimism about anti-taliban activists and her chance of recovery. the medical director at the british hospital she is now at says specialists think there is a chance, a decent recovery. the 14-year-old is in a chemicily induced coma as doctors evaluate the extent of the damage she sustained when pakistani taliban shot her in the head. dr. sanjay gupta who is a neurosurgeon takes a look at her prognosis. >> what we know is she had a point blank gunshot wound injury with a .9 millimeter handgun and

surgeons spent nine hours operating on her to take pressure off her brain and remove fragments. as you might guess, the odds are usually not in the favor of someone who suffered this injury. fewer than 10% of patiented survive at all. a smaller percentage have significant neurological recovery after this. just yesterday she was moving both hands and both feet, plural. i emphasize that because, again, as a neurosurgeon, i will tell that you to be able to move both sides of the body even spontaneously is a very good sign. if she did this because someone asked her to and she was responding to a command, that's an even better sign. but again the swelling of the brain is issue number one over the next several days, make sure that swelling can be controlled. as far as finding out how she'll do overall, they take the

sedation and keeping her brain at less being and decrease it a fau time and see is she able to respond well? can she understand her name? can she understand things? that's going to be the most critical sign moving forward. the only thing doctors said is it's going to be months perhaps before we tually have knowledge of just how far her recovery is going to go. oftentimes as we saw in the case of congressman give fords, if someone has weakness on one side of the body or other because of the location of the injury, that rehab can take a significant amount of time. that may be what she has in store for her. she's young, she's 14. that's important. the brain is more plastic at that age, better to rewire itself and that may work in her favor. but as we get more information, we'll certainly bring it to you. >> so many people praying for this young girl. i was reading online the hospital they chose to take her to in britain is a hospital that is world renowned for being able to treat patients with these serious gunshot wounds. so there's anyplace that could

really help her in her care and her rehab, it is that particular hospital. >> she is in the right place. that is good news. a circus like scene on a mississippi highway. coming up, how elephants -- elephants ended up all over this road. if you're leaving the house right now, you better watch us on your desktop or mobile phone. just go to cnn.com. >> what are the consequences? ally bank. why they have a raise your rate cd. tonight our guest, thomas sargent. nobel laureate in economics, and one of the most cited economists in the world. professor sargent, can you tell me what cd rates will be in two years? no. if he can't, no one can. that's why ally has a raise your rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally. wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line,

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hey, welcome back. good morning. 47 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. here's christine. >> thank you. we're 15 hours from the second presidential debate with president obama and mitt romney duking it out at hofstra university on new york's long island. we may see the candidates more polite due to the town hall foremate. they'll field questions directly from undecided voters. the debate covers foreign policy and domestic issues. special coverage of tonight's town hall moderated by candy crowley begins at 7:00 eastern time right here on cnn. don't adjust your television. this is really video of elephants on a highway. i trailer got into a traffic accident and went off the road in hancock county, mississippi. the elephants were allowed to roam around while the trailer was put back on the road. >> elephants on a road, that's a very curious story.

>> you know, they're very dangerous. no one was hurt. >> i don't see the elephants. >> there's one. >> wow. >> i thought that was the back of a human. >> there is an elephant. the gray there in the middle of your screen, folks. today a three judge panel is being asked to redefine how the government classifies marijuana. the group americans for safe access is challenging the drug enforcement administration's classification of marijuana as a schedule one drug. schedule one drugs include heroin and lsc and considered by the dea have a high incidents of abuse and no acceptable medical use. san francisco giants pulling even the national league championship series with a 7-1 blowout of the st. louis cardinals. the series tied at one game apiece. the team will play the next three games in st. louis with game three set for tomorrow. game three in the american league, the yankees and tigers, john -- >> you saw marco scutaro there.

he had to come out of the game after a really hard slide by the cardinals matt holiday. very controversial. the giants rallied around execute yoe and took over the game and ended up winning. that searries tied at one game apiece. >> you are sleeping at all? >> i watch the replays when i wake up. i can't not know what happened. the first thing i do is check the replays. >> 49 minutes after the hour right now. not one but two hurricanes on the radar in the weather sent they are morning. rob marciano joins us. >> still hurricane season. hurricane rafael 390 miles south of bermuda, winds of 85 miles per hour. heading to bermuda but will likely miss it. tropical force winds with this. hurricane-force winds go 40 miles. bermuda, conditions will go down hill here in a hurry. tonight they'll bypass you off towards the west. hurricane paul, 110 mile an hour winds. this will begin to weaken as it heads to the baja of california.

may get a little moisture heading into the desert southwest of the u.s. and southern california. that's about it from hurricane paul. we have a pront that moved through the east coast last night. heavy rains in spots. that is pushing off the new england coastline and cape cod. and seattle to portland to m medford, more in the way of wind with it. winds could gust to 60 or 70 miles per hour with highway watches and wind advisories up for that part of the world. winds ahead of it going to kick temperatures up into the 70s and 80s. well above average there. expect 80 degrees in kansas city. speaking of numbers, john berman quoting i'm much shorter in person than i am on television. >> that is awful. >> you look taller. >> i stand on this platform every day. i was born 21 inches. i haven't grown much. magic of television. >> you're a giant in our eyes, rob.

very nice to see you. >> he's a tall guy. a packed hour ahead on "early start" including the rematch, round two for president obama and mitt romney tonight. will the president get off the ropes after their first head-to-head meeting? the tale of the tape ron brownstein breaks it down for us. and hillary clinton is taking responsibility for security at the consulate that was attacked in libya. a cnn reporter landed an interview with hillary clinton and it's making big news. and video of nypd officers beating a shirtless man. two members of the force are involved. first, in 2008 we had obama girl. now we have the rye yn girl. she is going olivia newton john to show her support for the vice-presidential nominee. this is shocking. ♪ let me see the baby blues

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welcome back to "early start." we're taking a look at what is trending and it's all about the big debate. >> absolutely. what is trending this morning, leg warmers. break out the leg warmers for paul ryan. ♪ let's get physical, physical ♪ i wanna get physical save social security ♪ ♪ time to make obama walk time to make obama walk ♪

>> she is singing fiscal, not physical. romney's running mate is turning heads. she is singing let's get fiscal." >> all right. on debate day, the endorsement everyone has been waiting for, miley cyrus showing her support for president obama tweeting a picture of herself in a cutoff t-shirt with a picture of the president and calling the followers to rock the vote. she has a little history with the obama family. she sang at the kids inaugural concert. >> so obama has won the miley cyrus primary. . >> and death defying potentially blood boiling leap from space and this is the thanks he gets.

take a look. >> as daredevil felix bombardenare became the first man to -- ooohh! >> felix bombgardener became the first man to break the sound barrier by free fall. ladies and gentlemen, this proves our days of human exploration are not over because we did it the we put a man on the earth. it's a brave same world. and, folks, millions around the

world tuned in to witness this historic event and/or hideously gruesome death. >> i had not seen that. that was hilarious. all right, everyone. "early start" continues right now. >> i love that we replay these. we start the morning out with a laugh. the rematch, president obama and mitt romney hours away from debate number two. that is tonight in new york. i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department, 60,000 plus people all over the world. >> falling on her story, hillary clinton taking the blame for the death of a u.s. ambassador and three other americans in libya. marijuana on the docket. a court case today could be a small first step towards some day legalizing pot. on that note, i'm going to say good morning to you. welcome to "early start." it is 6:00 a.m. in the east.

rematch. 15 hours and counting until president obama and mitt romney go at it again. the second presidential debate at hofstra university in long island. the president obama campaign expects attack could be a little riis ski. the candidates will be surrounded by real voters asking real questions. >> still there is plenty at stake tonight for both obama and romney. the latest cnn poll of polls shows romney with the slimmest of leads 48% to 47%. our poll guy is in the house. paul steinhauser. he will be at the debate tonight. share with us your expectations for this evening, and the poll of polls. because this is big news. >> it's very tight. i've got some breaking news right now. mitt romney won the coin toss. that's new. so he gets the first question tonight. there you go. we just reported that. >> this just in.

>> exactly. that poll you guys just showed. we've also seen extremely tight polls in the states as well. that's why so much is at stake tonight. >> one thing i know for sure, mitt's prepared. mitt's confident. mitt's got a good presence about him. >> ann romney says her husband's ready for a rematch with president obama. the republican nominee spent the past two days back home in massachusetts, behind closed doors, preparing for tonight's second presidential debate. >> hello, hello! >> reporter: president obama's been hunkered down in williamsburg, virginia. not campaigning in the crucial battleground state, but instead doing his debate prep homework. a senior adviser says the president knows he needs to step it up after the denver debate two weeks ago. >> he knew we walked off the stage and also knew as he's watched the tape of that debate that he's got to be more energetic. >> reporter: most americans think romney got the better of

obama at the first face-off. >> my plan is not to put in place any tax cut that will add to the deficit. that's point one. so you may be referring to it as $5 trillion tax cut but that's not my plan. >> okay. i want to provide tax breaks for companies that are investing here in the united states. on energy. governor romney and i, we both agree that we've got to boost american energy production. >> polls conducted following the denver showdown, both nationally and in key battleground states, have tightened up. this time around the candidates will field questions directly from undecided voters in a town hall format moderated by cnn's own candy crowley. >> we're starting right where candy crowley is going to be. at this table right behind me. and beyond her there's two stools, high stools. that's where the two candidates will be. then around them, sort of the semicircle there will be about 80 people who have been chosen from the area around hofstra here on long island. they're the ones who will ask the questions of the candidate. >> reporter: and connecting with the town hall audience is crucial.

>> the challenge is that they've got to connect not just with the people that are looking into the television, and watching them, but to the people that are on the stage with them. they have to keep those folks in mind. it's a much more intimate, and up-close adventure with voters. >> reporter: so which candidate do americans think will win the debate tonight? check this out from the pew research center. americans are kind of divided between the president and mitt romney. that was not the case, take a look at the right column, that was not the case in the first debate. listen, we've seen past presidents have rough first debates. ronald reagan in '84. george w. bush eight years ago. but they came back with strong second debates. that's the big question for tonight. will president obama come back with a strong second debate. >> over the last 24 hours it seems like there's been a lot of controversy. made-up controversy over the role of the moderator in this debate. you have some new information there. >> maybe that was some predebate spin from the romney and obama campaigns, questioning whether candy crowley should stick to the rules. both campaigns saying they'll answer whatever questions come

their way. the key here is the questions come from the undecided voters but candy crowley gets to follow-up there and get a debate going between the two candidates. >> let's check in with cnn senior political analyst ron brownstein on what to expect from these two candidates tonight. huge expectations for both of them. let's start with romney. >> look, romney changed the race. in a fundamental way in the first debate. you have to go back to the carter-reagan debate in '80 and maybe the nixon-kennedy debate in 1960 for a debate that had a bigger reresh verb ration during the race. he has to make himself a viable alternative for voters who are somewhat dissatisfied with obama but had not previously seen romney as someone who cared about or understood their lives. he made enormous progress on that front and above all convincing people that he has a plan to make their lives better. >> on the subject of has a plan, you just wrote in the national journal about this. you said, what president obama needs to do is make the case that he has a plan. >> there are two separate memos that came out yesterday from senior democratic strategists.

they both faced on focus groups after the first debate and both said the biggest -- obama had many problems at that first debate but the biggest one was he conveyed no passion, energy or mission about having a plan to make people's lives better over the next four years. what would he deliver in a second term? i think that is job one for him tonight. i think to show that, you know, some of the comments from the focus groups, he seemed defeated. he seemed out of energy. obviously wants to make the case against romney. wants to be tougher. but above all he needs to make the case for himself and what he would do if voters give him four more years. >> and this town hall format, who is most likely to be able to connect with the voters? because, it looks like, you know, a lot of people believe president obama's got that in the bag. he's typically the one that can connect. >> we were talking about the president has two missions, two necessities tonight. one of them facilitated by the town hall format. one is made tougher. the one made tougher is making the case against the other guy. people talk about, it's hard to be negative in this audience when you're with people around

you. i think where he may do better, where this will help him, is trying to re-establish a sense that he cares about and connects with average people and mitt romney doesn't. >> seems like the big epic question in this campaign right now is, is this as good as it gets for mitt romney? or is this the tip of the iceberg and we're seeing a trend toward a complete romney takeover? >> look, i don't think we're seeing a trend for a complete takeover for either side. what's happened at this first debate is it snapped the race back to the fundamentals. in some ways the president was levitating above his approval rating in september when he had this lead because it was a thin slice of voters who were dissatisfied with him but were sticking with him nonetheless because they didn't see romney as someone who got their lives. romney has fundamentally and probably irreversibly changed that and we're looking at a structurally close race, driven by a country that's divided almost exactly in half on whether president obama has performed well enough in the first four years to deserve another four years. >> ron brownstein, thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate your time and insight. special coverage of tonight's town hall presidential debate

moderated by our own candy crowley begins at 7:00 eastern time. this is making big news, all night. hillary clinton insists that the september 11th attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi was her responsibility, and no one should be blaming the white house. in an interview with cnn's elise labott, the secretary of state insists she is in charge of security at u.s. diplomatic outposts, and she says no one should be pointing the finger at the president for the death of ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. >> i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department. 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts. the president and the vice president certainly wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. >> now, republicans, they're not buying this. gop senators john mccain, lindsey graham and kelly ayotte released a statement saying if the president was not aware of this rising threat level in benghazi, then we've lost confidence in his national

security team. security of americans serving our nation everywhere in the world is ultimately the job of the grander in chief, the buck stops there. foreign affairs reporter elise labott landed the interview with the secretary of state. she joins us from lima, peru this morning. some analysts saying this was a political decision on hillary clinton's part hoping to deflect blame from the president. it happened hours before their second presidential debate. >> well, john, that's one way to look at it, certainly. and it is taking a little bit of the heat off the white house temporarily. i think. another thing secretary clinton was trying to do, i think, is to refocus people on the idea that four americans were killed that night, ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. and she wanted to remember that the most important thing was to make sure it didn't happen again. but let's take a listen to what secretary clinton said when i asked her about the changing story. first the administration said that this was spontaneous protests gone awry. took a lot of heat for that. and then changed their story to

more of a preplanned terrorist attack. take a listen to secretary clinton. >> everyone who spoke tried to give the information that they had. as time has gone on, the information has changed, we've gotten more detail. but that's not surprising. that always happens. and what i want to avoid is some kind of political gotcha, or blame game going on. >> so, john, i went on to ask her a lot of other things. we talked that night about the harrowing details that secretary clinton was receiving about the attack and the death of the four americans, waiting all night to hear if they found ambassador stevens and sean smith, john. >> elise, did the secretary seem to indicate that she felt that the intelligence was somehow faulty from the very beginning? >> well, i asked her about that, because you know, there's a lot of going back and going forth, and you know, the state department never said that those

protests were going on that night. they said, in fact, all is quiet. and if you heard vice president biden the other night, he said also that was the intelligence we had. take a listen to the back and forth with secretary clinton on the intelligence. >> obviously, what happened that night was unprecedented. the waves of armed attackers that went on for hours. >> well, do you think you got wrong intelligence, then? >> i'm not going to get into the blame game, either, about what we don't fully yet know from our own investigation. >> now, conveniently, that investigation will probably come out after the election. although, it does take some time for these things to shake out. but for right now, secretary clinton wants to make sure in this investigation, yes, john, find out what happens. but mostly find out how the u.s. state department can protect its diplomats to make sure nothing like this happens again. and you heard ambassador stevens' father over the last week saying his death is being

politicized, and everyone wants to make sure that this doesn't happen again to other diplomats. u.s. really has to make sure it's going to be in these conflict areas, they have to have security for that kind of environment. john? >> elise labott in lima, peru. the secretary of state in a news-making interview. thanks so much, elise. >> ten minutes past the hour. dangerous drug or good medicine? coming up, the court case that could help put pot on the path to legalization. ah. fire bad! just have to fire roast these tomatoes. do you churn your own butter too? what? this is going to give you a head start on your dinner. that seems easier sure does who are you? [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. five delicious cooking sauces

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right now federal law lists marijuana as a schedule i drug, along with the most dangerous drugs, such as hair one, and lsd, as having potential for abuse. today, medical marijuana advocates will try to change that and reclassify marijuana so it can be used for treating diseases. similar attempts have failed in the past. but this time, the advocacy group americans for safe access feel that they actually have a shot at this. joining me is their executive editor steph shearer. thanks for being with us this morning. i want to go over these schedules again so everybody can understand how exactly this is classified. so it's classified as a schedule i controlled substance. as i said before that means it's linked with drugs like hair one and ecstasy. below that is schedule ii which includes drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycontin. your group is looking to classify it as schedule iii. that includes drugs like vicodin, anabolic steroids.

you have tried twice to get the feds to reclassify marijuana. why do you think this could work now? >> this is the first time our organize has attempted to reschedule marijuana. we are an organization of medical whose doctors are behind us. that they want the federal government to recognize the experience we're having, which is the fact that marijuana is medicine. now some of the other attempts in the past were very focused on abuse potential. and in our petition, we're actually bringing forward several decades worth of research, and the experience of patients and doctors in this country. >> so i have here that in 2011 you petitioned the dea to get marijuana reclassified, and that it was denied. they said in their decision that the department of health and human services evaluation and the additional data gathered by dea show that marijuana has a hypotension for abuse. marijuana lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision. this was the department of health and human services saying that it has a hypotension for

abuse. so how do you refute that? >> i refute that, they're actually saying it's being used. caffeine is being used or you could say it's being abused, depending on what reference that's coming from. and what we've asked the court to weigh in, is to look, you know, look at this decision, and to find that this decision was actually arbitrary and capricious and that it's not taking into account the experience of a million medical candidates in the u.s. and the thousands of doctors that are recommending that they use this product. so we think that bringing the courts in, we can actually finally have a sane conversation about medical cannabis in this country and bring us up to speed, with honestly the rest of the world. it's actually kind of odd that we're still having this conversation. does marijuana have medical value? and i think most of your viewers know someone that has used medical cannabis. >> we know that in california

and other states it has been approved to treat a range of illnesses. so why do you think the federal government has been so reluctant to reclassify it? >> you know, it's a large bureaucracy. we're not sure why. but i do know that the only people who are testifying against medical cannabis are people within law enforcement. you never see doctors or scientists saying, you know, that this shouldn't move forward as a medicine. >> and one last quick question for you. if you win, this does not legalize marijuana, right, it just changes the class fiction. >> that's correct. there's still a lot of processes that the federal government's going to have to go through. hopefully and start working with the states to provide this medicine to patients. but the reclassification just means that doctors and patients will be on the same page with the federal government. >> all right. steph sherer, executive director of americans for safe access. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> so we know that this is going to be a big talker today and we

want to hear from you. comment on twitter, including our handle @earlystartcnn. head to our blog cnn.com/earlystart to join in on this conversation. we have breaking news out of london right now. we're getting new details on malala yousafzai, the pakistani girl who was shot for standing up to the taliban. there's also word of a number of arrests at the hospital overnight. interesting. senior international correspondent dan rivers joins us right now to explain. dan, explain this to us, please. >> you know, we've just had a press conference from the medical director here, dr. david rosser, who first of all told us a bit about malala's condition, described as being comfortable. they said they're pleased with her progress so far. there's been an initial assessment from up to or more than six specialists, including radiology, intensive care, pediatrics and others.

as you mentioned also he touched on there'd been arrests of a number of people overnight, who were overcurious, in his words, trying to get in to her hospital room. claiming to be members of her family. now he wouldn't give much more detail, but basically was sort of saying there were no weapons involved or anything, and he was sort of saying this proves that the security in place was robust, that there was more than one incident, though, of people trying to get in to see her. but perhaps playing down any suggestion of this being sinister, or anyone trying to do her any harm. that people just perhaps getting a little overcurious and wanting to just go in and see her. so we'll obviously try and find out more about that from the police here. but it underlines just how tight security is around this hospital. they did deploy a lot of extra police officers in front of one of the entrances behind me yesterday to really, i think, as a show of strength more than

anything else. but the taliban have said that they, you know, have continued to issue death threats against malala, and of course, you know, she is under risk as long as she's here. >> dan, you told us she is comfortable and they are pleased with her progress so far. just to be clear, we have so much concern over her safety, they're not saying these arrests apparently were for any kind of threat. these were not people out to get her in any way? >> that's the impression he gave us, yes. that this was more people claiming to be her family, and being overeager, over curious was the phrase he used, to go in and see her. so, they have been arrested. he wouldn't tell us how many have been arrested or what time any of this happened. and he wouldn't go in to any details about how security has changed as a result, whether it's been stepped up. but he was basically saying, this proves that our security is working. >> all right, dan rivers in london with an update on malala who is said to be resting comfortably right now and they are pleased with her progress.

thanks very much, dan. if you're looking for work, they are looking for help. coming up, the big time online retailer that's doing some big time hiring for the holidays. [ female announcer ] they can be enlightening.

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i mean, they're already thinking about what they're going to do for the holiday season. we're seeing in many of these consumer sentiment numbers and consumer spending numbers that you have pent-up demand to buy stuff. mostly things like restaurant meals and consumer electronics, and quite frankly these retailers want to be ready for the holidays. so it may be october but they're getting ready, no question. that's what we're watching overall in terms of that. some of these jobs will become permanent jobs. last year i know nearly 30% of the jobs at target translated into jobs. nearly 15% at kohl's. some of these will become longer-term permanent jobs. for most people these are going to be temporary seasonal type jobs. so they won't be there forever. but certainly there will be something. let's faulk about facebook. a really interesting analysis on cnn money of political records, donations and contribution records showing that the facebook political action committee, actually giving more money to republicans than democrats. $140,000 to republicans. $127,000 to democrats. why would facebook be involved

in political action committee, you might ask? well, there are all these questions about privacy, online retailing, how its business is done. so having a hand in washington and politics and being close to people running for office and the parties, quite frankly, not that they were surprised about. tech companies, political donations overall favor republicans over democrats. but when you look specifically at facebook, the personal donations of the people within facebook, the personal campaign contributions, actually favor democrats. and the ceo of facebook has given money to dnc and also to president obama, $5,000 to president obama. >> all right. what's the one thing we need to know about our money? >> stock futures are higher. ton of earnings and economic reports coming out today. 40% of s&p 500 companies are going to report earnings for this week, buckle up and hold on. we're going to get a lot of data that you're going to be able to help decide whether you are better off today than four years ago. with three weeks to go. >> to interpret all that data. >> and hold on. >> buckle up. >> 27 minutes past the hour.

president obama did it and took plenty of heat for it. so will mitt romney go on "the view"? the answer is coming up.

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obama versus romney. the sequel. a different format for tonight's debate number two. and did this cop cross the line? a possible case of police brutality caught on camera right in new york city.

and new concerns over the deadly meningitis outbreak. more medicine now linked to this illness. this story just keeps on going on and getting more and more alarming every day. welcome back to "early start" everyone, i'm john berman. >> i want to add to the list, elizabeth cohen is going to join us to talk about that. 31 minutes past the hour. mitt romney and president obama will go head-to-head for the second time tonight. this time in a town hall-style debate, which will be moderated by cnn's own chief political correspondent candy crowley. >> and back with us to discuss more of this this morning, cnn contributor and republican strategist ana navarro and richard socarides, former adviser to president bill clinton and a writer with the new yorker dotcom. we've been talking about town meetings. meaning the candidates will be sitting in a well, surrounded by real voters who will get to be asked questions mod rated by candy crowley. these town meetings over time have presented some challenges for political candidates in the

past, famously with george h.w. bush in 1992. he famously looked at his watch, you see it right there. people thought that meant he really wasn't interested. wasn't into the moment. which actually, you know, president obama was criticized for that, too, at the last debate. there was another famous moment at a town hall debate. this one with al gore and george w. bush. this happened in 2000. let's look at that. >> it's not only what's your philosophy and what's your position on issues, but can you get things done? and i believe i can. >> all right. >> al gore got up in his business and bush just -- >> he handled that so beautifully though, george w. bush. >> what's interesting is rob portman, who is the one right now who's doing debate prep with romney was the one doing debate prep with president bush back then. and he talked about this moment. he had watched the pretapes, he had studied the tapes, and he knew gore had this tendency to get into your personal space, so

they practiced. and bush had said i heard rob portman say this story, that's not going to happen. he's not going to do that. so when he did it, i think it was something that was incredibly amusing to president bush. >> they're both in that well. tonight when they're both in that town hall setting, ana, who does it favor? >> you know, i think both guys can be on or off. i think it favors the one who comes across as connecting the most with the audience. outside the room. but also inside the room. and they have to remember, guys, that the camera is on them all the time. i keep wondering how this keeps happening on and on, year after year, debate after debate. i think the split screen was lethal for obama. in the first debate. i think it was a terrible thing for the first president bush when he got caught looking at the watch. so, remember, the camera is on you at all times. you've got to look connected. you've got to look sympathetic, at all times. and you know, more than anything, i think the american voter wants to see both of these guys really want this job. that was the biggest problem for

president obama in the first debate. >> the town hall. this is a setting that president obama wants, richard? >> yes. and i think he'll do really well in it. i think the special challenge, i agree with everything ana said. but i think the special challenge for him tonight is not to overcompensate for last week. i mean, you know, you could see him really -- i mean, i think it was okay with joe biden was very aggressive. but, you know, president obama has to be himself. president obama has to, you know, show up, be connected, be empathetic, explain to people why he wants the job, connect with voters like you said. he can't go overboard. he can't try to overcompensate too much for what was really a weak performance. >> and i say no smirking, no laughing, no disdainful looks. >> that's not in his character. i think, look, if the real barack obama, caring, empathetic, visionary, looking for someone who looks forward, if that barack obama shows up tonight, the democrats will do just fine. >> who was the barack obama that showed up the first time? >> that's a good question. you know, i think it's such an

interesting question. i think we do not really know what happened that night. i have a feeling that when the history books are written there will be something about that night that we will -- that we will learn that we don't know now. >> all right. let's switch gears here and talk about the "usa today"/gallup poll. i know you were carrying the newspaper around earlier. it shows the gender gap is closing for romney among women in the swing states. so richard look at those numbers. obama, 49%. romney 48%. that's the first time we're seeing this. women hugely supported obama at first. so, are you concerned about this? >> well, i mean, i'm concerned that i'm not sure that number -- those numbers among women are accurate. but i think democrats are usually concerned about the timing of the race that we see in the swing states and we've seen everywhere. i think we expect it. it's tightening somewhat. but maybe not so much. maybe not so quickly. but it's going to be a very close contest. and i think, you know, nobody really knows what's going to win right now. >> the obama campaign jumped on it and said those numbers are skewed. but ana, you're probably --

>> it's amusing. the heat the republicans took for saying the polls were skewed when romney was behind. so now the polls -- now that it's on the other foot the polls are all of a sudden skewed according to the democrats. >> but you said earlier that you were surprised. >> i was, zoraida. because i, you know, it was a big, big, gender gap in the double digits, 20-plus percent. it looked like an insurmountable obstacle a few weeks ago before the debate. it evaporated overnight. it tells me how soft the support for president obama is this year as opposed to four years ago. >> foreign policy will be a part of tonight's debate. split between domestic and foreign policy and there's no bigger issue in foreign policy right now than the attacks on the embassy in benghazi. and last night secretary of state hillary clinton gave really a newsmaking interview to cnn's elise labott, where she took responsibility, in a way, for what happened there. let's listen. >> i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department, 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts. the president and the vice

president certainly wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. they're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs, and make a considered decision. >> so, richard, does that take some of the heat off the president tonight? >> i don't really think so. and i don't think that's what she was trying to do. i think she was trying to stay that she feels personally responsible, and that they're responsible, state department is responsible for the day-to-day decisionmaking on this issue. i think she was maybe trying to explain a little bit that answer that the vice president gave when he said he didn't personally know. but clearly the administration, the president, are responsible for what the state department does. i think that, you know, she is -- she is really -- she feels very personally about this. i think that's what you saw her describing. >> i think president obama would be well served to pick a page from secretary clinton and take some responsibility. the american people like for their president to take responsibility. and it would be a lot more presidential than all of this dodging and weaving that's gone on. >> let's be fair, he has not

tried -- he has not tried to say he's not responsible. >> said we didn't know anything. >> but that is very different. >> i've yet to hear president obama say it's my responsibility, the buck stops here like i just heard hillary clinton. >> you'll hear it tonight. >> you'll hear it tonight. >> one thing -- >> 10,000 bucks. >> 10,000 dollars? >> all right. >> monopoly money. >> monopoly money, yes! >> if we know one thing for sure, it's that it just raised the excitement level of the debate. ana navarro, richard socarides, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> they bring it, don't they? thank you. all right. special coverage of tonight's town hall presidential debate moderated by our own candy crowley begins at 7:00 eastern time right here on cnn. >> the new york police department's investigations of a possible case of police brutality. that going on right now. the incident was caught on videotape which we are going to play. but i want to warn you this can be tough to watch. police say officers, one male,

one female responded to a dispute at a community center early one morning last week as they attempted to arrest a man an altercation unfolded. the male officer appears to strike the man more than a dozen times. now, police released a statement saying the nypd internal affairs bureau opened investigation of the incident yesterday. having seen a video of it. the matter was also referred by internal affairs to the civilian complaint review board. the statement went on to say the male officer has been placed on modified assignment while the incident is investigated. >> that is difficult to watch. and today a three-judge panel with the u.s. court of appeals in washington is being asked to redefine how the government classifies marijuana. americans for safe access is challenging the drug enforcement administration's classification of marijuana as a schedule i drug. schedule i drugs include hair one and lsd and are considered by the dea to have a high incident of abuse and no acceptable medical use. there's a new concern for doctors bracing to contain a deadly meningitis outbreak.

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welcome back. 44 minutes past the hour. soledad o'brien joins us now with a look at what is ahead on "starting point." >> lots ahead this morning. they're ready to rumble. at least they're ready to debate against. version 2.0 for president obama, mitt romney will face off in their long island match. a good question, though, is if tonight's town hall-style debate will give an advantage to one of the candidates. we're going to talk this morning with a former debate moderator carole simpson. also congressman steve israel will be our guest.

peter king is going to join us as well, jen psaki from the obama campaign will be joining us. also we'll tell you what secretary of state hillary clinton now says about the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. and about the cover-up accusations. we'll have a live report this morning from peru where secretary clinton is traveling. and tyra banks. she wants you to know your flaws are okay. zoraida and john, your flaws are okay. tyra has a mission to empower young women. she's been doing that for a long time. she's got a big event coming up. she's going to talk to us about it. she is so impressive in what she does with young women. i love her. >> all i heard was tyra banks. i don't know anything else you said. >> love, love, love. >> tyra banks. she's coming to join us this morning. >> thanks, soledad. serious story now. more issues have been reported with drugs from a massachusetts compounding pharmacy linked to a deadly multistate outbreak of fungal meningitis. the food and drug administration now says two other medicines are linked to illnesses.

senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen joins us now from atlanta this morning. elizabeth, tell us about these new illnesses. >> you know, this really came as a surprise yesterday. the fda put out a press release and they talked about two drugs, besides the one that we've been talking about all this time, that may be causing problems. so let's take a look at the drugs and the patients who they might have affected. there was one patient who received a different kind of steroid than the one we've been talking about. a different kind of steroid, and now possibly has meningitis. and then two other patients who are having heart transplants and received a heart surgery drug. and now might have or appear to have fungal infections. these drugs were all made by the new england compounding center. so the fda is saying, you know, there's more than just this one drug that we need to be worried about. >> so elizabeth, i've got to say, i hear two more drugs this morning. is it possible there are three, there are four, could there be even more? >> right. because this company made dozens of drugs. john, on october 4th the fda

told doctors and hospitals, don't use anything from the northern compounding center, get rid of all of it. so, theoretically, we should all be safe. i mean you're hoping that hospitals and doctors are listening. now, of course, that begs the question, these two new drugs, were they used before or after that announcement was made to stop using these drugs, and we just don't know, we asked the fda several times and they said they don't have that information. but we really, you know, in the end, it amounts to trust and doctors and hospitals that when they're told stop using anything by this company, that they stop using anything by this company. >> all right, elizabeth cohen. still so many questions here. thank you for the update. >> thanks. it is 47 minutes past the hour. they are the deciders. hear from voters in the biggest swing county in a state that has a knack for picking presidents. that's coming up next.

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welcome back. it is 50 minutes past the hour. round two of the obama-romney debate is tonight. but when it comes to measuring the pulse of american politics, there's probably no place more reliable than stark county, ohio. it's one of the most competitive swing counties in a state that reliably picks presidents. miguel marquez is in hartville, ohio. that is where he spoke with some very discerning voters. what did you find out for us? >> well, they are the very most discerning voters. we came here because, you know, no republican has ever won the white house without winning ohio. this race is certainly tightened up since that first debate. obama had a seven to ten-point lead before that debate. now it's about a three-point edge over romney. so we came here to lovely hartville, ohio, to talk to people to figure out what makes them tick. this is stark county, ohio. a front line in this battleground state. so closely tracked state in national voting patterns, this

place puts the bell in bellwether. steve has formed in hartville, ohio, this whole life. today he's planting winter wheat. like most people here he takes politics pretty seriously. may i ask who you're voting for? >> yes. >> who are you voting for? >> i won't tell you. >> like many, vaughn is sick of political gridlock. he says the country's problems, so serious, it makes voting more important, and tougher than ever. >> a lot of people are hurting big. a lot of people need relief. and i'm not too sure the election is going to give it no matter who gets elected. that's the problem. >> stark county has seen the worst of the recession and the best of the recovery. unemployment here shot up to more than 13% at the height of the great rescission. it's now plummeted to less than 7%. vaughn, like stark county and ohio, has survived by changing. he turned over the business to his kids and his son-in-law phil. he made some changes to the old family farm. boy did he ever.

a fourth of the family's yearly income now comes from a few weeks in the fall when the farm, now a market and winery, is transformed into a country fun fair. >> you have to be diversified enough to weather the storm but you can't dilute yourself so that you're not effective. >> a delicate balance that makes ohio ohio. >> ohio is number one at practically nothing. but exceedingly above average at many, many things. >> how quickly can one shred a car? >> about 30 seconds. >> they've been in the recycling business for 100 years. the state-of-the-art scrap yard. the boss here, ed, a lifelong democrat voted obama in 2008. he says this year, it's a tougher choice. >> this year i am truly an independent voter. and looking at the first debate, and very keen on looking at the next two debates. >> a year ago, his yard could barely keep up with demand. two months ago he saw orders

plummet. is it a matter of hearing what they want to do, or how are they going to accomplish it? >> i would say both in that question. but more importantly, how are they going to accomplish it with a $16 trillion deficit? >> now the one thing that we found out about stark county, ohio, both hartville here, the country, and canton, the city, both of them in this same county, a very competitive place. they have already ordered up most of their absentee ballots. about 35,000 total out of this county. 16,000 for democratic voters. 12,000 for republican. about 10,000 for independents. this is a place that may come down to those early voters, and at this point it seems across the state at least the obama campaign has made a very big push to get those early voters out there and they seem to be out in front, at least in the number of ballots that have gone out by democrats. zoraida? >> all right, miguel. you are having entirely too much fun getting us all this information. and the next stop on miguel's

trip, congressman paul ryan's home state of wisconsin, specifically waterford. wonder if they'll let miguel play with the toys like in ohio. mitt romney will not be appearing on "the view" this week. the republican nominee canceled his thursday appearance on the abc talk show. barbara walters says the campaign told her there was a scheduling conflict. romney's wife ann still expected to appear. we have today's best advice coming up right after this quick break. stay with us. [ owner ] i need to expand

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58 minutes past the hour. we wrap it up as always with best advice. >> today it comes from sheila bear the former chairman of the

fdic. the best advice she ever received. >> i think the best advice i've ever received was from my parents about having a strong work ethic, and doing the job that you were assigned, and given, and making sure you do it well. i think that's really been a secret. >> interesting. doing the job you have right now and doing it well, and then the other jobs will come as a result. sometimes she says people always have their eye on the next job, and they don't get that next job because they haven't done the one they're in well enough. >> keep your eye on the prize at the moment. >> we got our hands full. >> that is all for "early start" everyone. >> "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. welcome, everybody, our starting point this morning, president obama, mitt romney, take two. here's a live look at hofstra university. that's where the candidates will be facing off tonight. can the president make up for his last showing?